


Thirsty

by Its_Bumblebee



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adorable, Awkward Bucky Barnes, Bucky Speaks Romanian, Bucky hasn't talked to a woman in seventy years, Drunken Confessions, F/M, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, It's my fic, Nervous Bucky Barnes, Reader Insert, Role Reversal, XReader, bite me, we'll pretend Bucky can get drunk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:34:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25570672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Its_Bumblebee/pseuds/Its_Bumblebee
Summary: Bucky gets really nervous around Tony's new assistant. But she thinks it's cute.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader
Comments: 6
Kudos: 94





	Thirsty

**Author's Note:**

> 1: Uuh, I'm not thirsty  
> 2: Sorry, sorry, sorry, I'm so sorry

Bucky used to be a ladies' man; charismatic, smooth talker, easy on the eye, not to mention the heart of gold. Girls were falling for him left and right. But he wasn't that man anymore, and he'll never be again. And he was contempt with that fact… until he met [Y/N].

Strong, smart, absurdly beautiful [Y/N]. She started working as Tony's new assistant a month ago, that's when Bucky met her. He, Steve and Tony were discussing welcoming a new recruit in the team, a young enhanced Peter discovered at his school. That was when [Y/N] came in.

"You called sir?" she addressed Tony directly, seemingly not even noticing the other two men at the table.

"Yeah, I'll need a double shot espresso. I haven't slept a wink."

The woman nodded, almost left without another word, then stopped at the last second. She finally acknowledged Steve and Bucky and gave them a smile.

"Do you two want something?" she looked intermittently at them.

"I'll have an iced coffee if it's not too much trouble," Steve said.

"How about you?"

When Bucky didn't say anything for a second, Tony nudged him in the shoulder. That seemed to get his attention. He shook his head.

_"Ăăă, nu mi-e sete." 1_

The woman looked at him puzzled, but didn't say anything. She left.

Bucky looked around himself, wanting the earth to swallow him right then and there. Tony was covering his face, trying not to laugh out of politeness or maybe pity.

"Wha- was that Russian? Why did you speak Russian?" asked Steve.

"I panicked!" Bucky jerked his shoulders. "And it was Romanian.”

"Cause that's so much better," Tony sounded bemused. "Haven't you talked to a woman in the last seventy years?"

_Not really._

Bucky felt his entire face burning. He must make it his personal life mission to never face that woman again. No way in hell can he see eye to eye with her after that.

Fucking stupid. Speaking Romanian. What the hell happened to him?

This feeling in his chest that didn’t let him breathe was completely new to him. He never got nervous around girls, no matter how pretty. They were the ones getting nervous, blushing, fumbling over their own words.

"What did you even say?" asked Steve.

"That I'm not thirsty… I don't know why it came out like that. I fucked up.”

He stood up, his legs feeling like jelly. Without another word, he was headed for the door. He couldn’t be here when she comes back with the orders or he might die of embarrassment.

"Is he sure he's not thirsty? Cause from here…"

The second time he saw her was a week later. Bucky was chilling in the living room when Nat came in complaining about a headache.

"What happened?"

"I might've had too much wine with Wanda, girls' night and everything." Nat let out a groan. "I asked [Y/N] to bring me an aspirin. She should've been here by now."

"Who's [Y/N]?"

But before Nat could answer the question, [Y/N] came in; dressed in a pair of baggy jeans and a white shirt, looking a bit tired and somehow still incredibly stunning.

"Sorry for being so late," she apologized. "Tony had me running errands since six this morning."

Shit. Now what? Too late to hide, but maybe she didn’t notice him. Maybe if he stills incredibly still on the couch he’ll become invisible.

"Sit down for a second, catch your breath."

Nat plopped herself on the other side of the couch, patting the space on her left. That also happened to be very close to Bucky. [Y/N] sat down, so close to him that he could smell the scent of her shampoo.

_God. What was that feeling in his stomach?_

"Bucky, bring the girl a glass of water."

He didn't need another excuse to get up. Get away from her. Stay as far away as possible and never see that pretty smile again. Never hear her voice. Never smell that damn shampoo. And never ever talk to her again. He can't embarrass himself if he doesn't open his mouth.

Or so he taught.

When [Y/N] grabbed the glass of water from his hands, her fingers brushed his, which made Bucky drop the glass and spill the water on her.

_"Scuze, scuze, scuze, îmi pare rău." 2_

Bucky froze there, incapable of doing anything else but apologize repeatedly.

There is no other way. He'll have to change his name and move to a different country.

The third time Bucky saw [Y/N], she looked better than ever. She was wearing a nice, expensive-looking dress that complimented her skin tone. It couldn't be legal to be this gorgeous.

"Looking good, [Y/N]. Got a hot date?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.

Date? Was she going on a date? With who? Why? And why did he care so much?

[Y/N] laughed and playfully pushed Tony.

"It's a birthday present from my friend. I was too excited to wear it to wait for an occasion,” she said, spinning a little to show off the dress.

"Well then, happy birthday! You can buy yourself a pair of earrings from me to go with the dress,” Tony looked at Bucky. “Don't you think she looks good?”

Bucky wanted to punch that smug grin off of Tony's face, but he couldn't. And Tony knew and reveled in that. He already was an idiot in [Y/N]’s eyes, unable to utter a word, she couldn’t also see him as a brute.

"Yeah, great."

[Y/N]'s smile widened and her eye glimmered.

"He speaks English," she teased. "Do you feel better, Mr. Barnes?"

Bucky gave her a confused look.

"Steve told me you weren't feeling very well for the past weeks. Something about being hit in the head on a mission?"

Steve, you sly dog.

"Yeah, I feel better."

Steve offered him exactly what he needed. A chance to a fresh start with [Y/N]. He still wasn't able to talk much around her, but at least it was in English. It was fine though because she made up for his horrible social skills. She always had a subject to talk about, always made everyone around feel included in the conversation.

They mostly spent time in groups, usually with Steve and Nat. She somehow managed to slither her way into almost every Avenger’s heart. In the beginning, they invited her to hang out just to see Bucky putting his foot in his mouth in various ways. It was hilarious. But they started to really like the woman and before realizing it, she became their friend.

Bucky didn't talk much to [Y/N], but he listened. And boy did he love listening to her voice. She’d go in tangents for hours talking about subjects that she was passionate about. The rest of the group would start talking amongst themselves but not Bucky. He always listened.

Tonight they were out at a bar, celebrating the rookie’s first mission. She was dancing with the other girls and Bucky and Steve were watching, having a drink.

“You know, one day you’ll have to confess. You can’t just stare at her like a lovesick puppy all your life.”

_Yes, I can._

“Don’t you think I’ve tried?” Bucky slurred a little, half drunk. “For the first month of knowing her, I could barely utter a word to her, let alone confess. Last time I tried to compliment her, I tripped on a cable and fell on my face.”

“You never had problems flirting before, Bucky. What happened?”

He shook his shoulders. Bucky wished he knew what was up with him. He hadn’t missed his old self as much as he did when he was around [Y/N]. He wished he could go up there and dance with her, tell her how pretty she looked in that dress but he couldn’t.

“So what’s the plan? Stare at her across the room and hope she invites you to dance?”

The music changed. The upbeat pop-rock song turned into a slow, romantic tune. Pairs were forming on the small dance floor and Bucky watched frozen in fear as [Y/N] approached their table.

“So which one of you, soldiers, wants to take me for a spin?” she asked in what was probably the worst attempt at an old-timey Brooklyn accent.

“I’d love to, but my ankle still hurts from the mission.”

Liar.

“I guess that means it’s the two of us, Bucky. Hurry, I don’t want to miss this song.”

She was already walking backwards to the dance floor, still facing Bucky. He couldn’t refuse, that would make her sad. And he knew how much she liked dancing. But he couldn’t dance with her. Literally. His legs felt like led.

With a push from Steve, Bucky found himself walking towards [Y/N], who was already swinging slowly to the rhythm of the music. When he was close enough, she pulled him in her arms.

He didn’t expect her to be this strong. But maybe it was because he was a bit drunk and not putting much of a fight.

“Relax Bucky, I’m not gonna bite you.”

_Please, do._

Bucky tried to relax a little. In spite of his hands now resting on [Y/N]’s hips, despite feeling her warmth radiating from her body, despite her smile making him drunker than all the Asgardian liqueur in the world.

He was staring at her with a dumb grin, the conversation with Steve still fresh in his mind. One day he’ll have to tell her. She was silent, that was weird. Maybe he should say something.

“I never got hit in the head.”

_Not that._

But the words were already pouring quickly out of his mouth, with no way to stop. What was it about [Y/N] that made Bucky’s brain and mouth just not cooperate?

“I just got so nervous around you that I couldn’t speak. I don’t know why. Guess because I’ve never seen someone as beautiful in my life. It seems I really don’t know how to behave around you.”

Maybe he _did_ have too much to drink.

[Y/N] looked at him in shock. It seemed like she was still processing what he said. He did talk pretty fast.

The tight feeling in his chest got worse. The walls seemed to close around him. The music stopped, the entire world stopped. He needed to get out. Go home, sleep it off, and in the morning this will be revealed to be just a dream.

Tony asked him to come to the towers the next day. He was having the worst hangover in history, yet the pain in his head didn’t compare to the dread he felt when he thought about facing [Y/N].

He had to be quick. Enter the tower, find Tony, and get out. Fast as lightning.

"Hold the elevator!"

Crap.

The smart thing to do was pretend he didn’t hear her and hope the elevator closes before she can get there. But he couldn’t do that to her. She was carrying four boxes that looked heavy as hell.

So Bucky stood in the elevator door until [Y/N] arrived. He let her in and took a few boxes from her, helping her put them on the floor.

"Thanks," she said, smiling.

But for the first time, her smile seemed forced. She never had to try and be happy around Bucky, because she always was. But this time the tension was too much, even for her.

“I guess we should talk about last night.

Bucky let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry. I was drunk and couldn’t control my mouth. And then I panicked and run. It was stupid.-“

“So you didn’t mean what you said? I’m not the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen?”

Bucky swallowed hard.

“Of course you are.”

He finally dared to look her in the eye. She managed to become more and more beautiful every time he looked at her.

“And do I not make you nervous? If I did this, for example...”

She got close to him. There was not a lot of room in the elevator, to begin with, so with one swift step, [Y/N] was pinning Bucky against the wall. She didn’t really need an answer, it was clear on his red face.

“Do you want me to stop?” she brushed a hair from his face.

Bucky shook his head. He didn’t know where things were going. This [Y/N] was different from the woman he met a few months ago. All he knew was that he wanted her closer.

“And if I were to invite you for a drink, would you say yes? Or are you not… thirsty?”

She grinned. Bucky wanted to say yes, but all the air left his lungs. She was so painfully close he could count her eyelashes and the only thing he could think about was her kissing him.

But he knew she wouldn’t do that without an answer.

“Sure, maybe we can get a coffee?”

“Good.”

She leaned in, staring at his lips. It was happening. It was finally happening. And then she kissed his cheek.

“You’re not getting any more until we go on a proper date.”

The elevator doors opened, as if on cue. [Y/N] grabbed her boxes and left.


End file.
